SAS (Statistical Analysis System) dates back many decades, when there were not many prominent commercial applications available. SAS was created in the early 1970s by Dr. Jim Goodnight and Dr. John Sall, who were both faculty members at North Carolina State University. The goal was to provide an integrated system for managing and analyzing agricultural data, especially focused on statistical analysis. In 1971, Dr. Goodnight and his team began working on the system as part of a research project.